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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bank — for money
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. court — of a king
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — in cards
  12. drill — army training
  13. court — for sport
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bank — for money
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. court — of law
  21. bank — of a river
  22. drill — the tool
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fan — a supporter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com